Closure for nonrefillable bottles



Oct. 30, 1951 F. H. LE SUEUR 2,572,939

CLOSURE FOR NONREFILLABLE BOTTLES Filed Jan. 2'7, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET l A /r I FIG. 2.

Oct. 30, 1951 F. H. LE SUEUR 2,572,939

CLOSURE FOR NONREFILLABLE BOTTLES Filed Jan. 27, 1949 2 SHEETS SHE ET 2 Afro/n evs Patented Oct. 30, 1951 CLOSURE FOR NONREFILLABLE BOTTLES 1 Francis Henry le Sueur, London, England Application January 27, 1949, Serial No. 73,073 In Great Britain April 21, 1948 6 Claims.

This invention relates to closures for non-refillable bottles. There have been many prior proposals for closures for such bottles, but they are usually characterized by a multiplicity of parts and a complexity of construction which raise the cost of production without a corresponding gain in efficiency. It is an object of the present invention to provide a closure for a bottle which is of very simple construction while yet rendering the bottle non-refillable.

According to the invention, a closure for a non-refillable bottle comprises a fixed annular member arranged for mounting at the inner end of the neck of the bottle, a flexible tube secured at one of its ends to said member and extending towards the outer end of the neck, and protecting means such as a labyrinth baflie for location at said outer end, the length of the flexible tube being greater than its diameter, and the free end of the flexible tube being arranged to locate itself adjacent to the fixed annular member when the bottle is upright.

The free end of the flexible tube may be weighted just sufiiciently to cause it to collapse upon the fixed annular member when the bottle is upright.

In addition, a loose member such as a ball may be provided between the free end of the flexible tube and the protectin means.

Preferably the fixed annular member and the protecting means are located at the ends of a rigid tube containing the flexible tube, said rigid tube constituting a casing for the closure.

The fixed annular member may have a tubular nose of semi-circular cross-section extending within and in the direction of the flexible tube, and the free end of the tube may be weighted by a loose annular member having a tubular nose of semi-circular cross-section complementary to the nose of the fixed annular member, the free end of the flexible tube being secured to the nose of the loose annular member, and the two noses being arranged to be overlapping when the bottle is in the upright position.

The flexible tube may be formed with a constriction at a point intermediate its length, to facilitate the buckling of the tube when the two noses of the annular members approach one another.

The periphery of the loose annular members may be provided with means engaging with corresponding, that is, mating, means in the bore of the rigid tube and serving to prevent rotation of the loose annular member while permitting sliding movement.

The loose member may be a ball housed in a portion of the rigid tube formed with a bore slightly greater than the diameter of the ball, and with longitudinal fiutings in the bore.

The bore of the loose annular member at the end thereof remote from the nose may be slightly less than the diameter of the loose ball, which may seat in and close the bore when the bottle is in the upright position.

Alternatively, the flexible tube may be arranged to be rolled up on itself when the bottle is upright. For example, the flexible tube may have secured along one side at least one strip of material applied to the tube in a stretched state, to cause the tube to assume the rolled-up position when the bottle is upright.

The free end of the tube may have secured in its mouth a cylindrical member apertured transversely and located so that the tube wraps itself around said member when assuming the rolledup position.

Two forms of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a bottleneck with a closure located therein and in the closed position, the bottle being upright.

Figure 2 is a cross-section on the line 11-11, Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a cross-section on the line III--III, Figure 1,

Figure 4 is a cross-section on the line IVIV, Figure 1,

Figure 5 is a longitudinal section of the loose annular member,

Figure 6 is an end elevation of the loose annular member, 7

Figure 7 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the fixed annular member,

Figure 8 is an end elevation of this member,

Figure 9 is a side elevation of a flexible tube, before assembly in the closure,

Figure 10 is a longitudinal section of the bottle-neck with the closure in the open position, the bottle being inverted for pouring.

Referring to Figures 1 to 10 of the drawings, in one form of the invention, for use with a bottle having a neck Ill about four inches long, the closure has a casing consisting of a rigid tube H in length slightly less than the neck, and of a diameter such as to enable it to be inserted tightly into the neck. At the outer end of the rigid tube, that is, the end which will lie in the mouth of the bottle, is a labyrinth baflle consisting of two transverse apertured baflie plates l2, I3 extending across the tube ll, the inner baflie plate I3 (see Figure 3) having four arcuate apertures I4 and the outer plate I2 (see Figure 2) having a central aperture l5, such being the most suitable for the pouring of the liquid. The apertures I5, iii are out of register with one another so as to obstruct the passage of a wire or other instrument if an endeavour is made to tamper with the closure. The balfie plate [3 also has a central projection l6 for the location of the ball, as will be seen hereinafter. At the inner end of the rigid tube II is an annular member I! arranged to be secured within said end. The annular member has a nose l8 of semi-circular cross-section and a key I9 arranged to enter a corresponding notch in the end of the tube l l and so prevent relative rotation between the parts. Around the annular part of the member, and surrounding the nose [8 and extending in the same direction, is a fiexible openended tube 26 of rubber (see Figures 1, 9 and 10). This tube is formed with a larger open end 2] to embrace the annular member I? and a smaller open end 22 to embrace the semi-circular nose 23 of a slidable annular member 24. Intermediate the length of the rubber tube 28 is a constriction 25 for a purpose to be disclosed hereinafter.

The slidable annular member 24 is formed with longitudinal splines 26 to mate with corresponding splines such as 21 in the bore of the tube l i. The noses 23 and it, while of semi-circular crosssection, are formed so as to have a clearance between them in a diametral plane.

Between the battle plate I 3 and the slidable annular member 24 is a loose ball 28 which can pass along a passage 29 formed in the rigid tube ll towards the mouth of the bottle I!) until it is stopped by the central projection H5 on the baffle plate I3. The passage 29 is formed with longitudinal grooves 3%? (see Figure 4) allowing liquid to pass the ball 28 when it is in the passage 29. The slidable annular member 213 is formed with a passage 3| of less diameter than the ball 28, and the lip 32 at the end of the passage 3! forms a seating on which the ball 28 rests when the:bottle is upright.

After the closure has been inserted into the neck I of the bottle, it may be secured therein by cement or other suitable means. For example, if the bottle is of the ledge mouth type, the rigid tube may have secured thereto a metal sleeve arranged to extend up out of the mouth'of the bottle and, after insertion of the rigid tube in the neck of the bottle, the metal sleeve maybe spun over an outside shoulder on the neck so as to retain the closure.

When the bottle is upright, as shown in Figure 1, the slidable annular member 24 rests onthe fixed annular member ll, the semi-circular noses I8, 23 of the members overlapping, and so causing the flexible tube 20 to be bent over on itself. The bending over of the tube is assisted by the constriction 2 (see Figure the botle is thus sealed ofi, and the annular member 24 is kept firmly in position by the loose ball 28 seating thereon. The Weight of the ball 28 and annular member 2:! are sufiicient to prevent them from being dislodged upwardly if vacuum filling of the bottle is attempted.

When the bottle is inverted, the ball 28 falls eq iiop shown F g tially straightened. The parts are then in the- The interior of- There is substantially no obstruction to the egress of the liquid. When the bottle is re-inverted, however, and the liquid subsides from the neck, the flexible tube 20 collapses upon itself and upon the annular member I? at the inner end of the closure, and thus effectively seals the neck. The ball 28 will fall towards and upon the annular member 24, so assistin the complete collapse of the flexible tube 28. If an empty bottle is inverted, it cannot be refilled even though the tube is extended, since there is no passage whereby the air in the bottle can escape. If vacuum filling of an inverted empty bottle is attempted, the formation of a partial vacuum in the body of the bottle soon causes the flexible tube 20 to collapse on itself and stop the extraction of further air from the bottle.

Instead of rubber, other materials may be employed in the construction of the flexible tubes, for example, fine kid leather or nylon may be used to form a tube to withstand the action of liquids which would be injurious to rubber.

I claim:

1. A closure for a non-refillable bottle comprising a rigid tube within the neck of the bottle, a fixed annular member mounted at the inner end of the rigid tube, a flexible tube secured at one of its ends to said member and extending towards the outer end of the neck, the length of the flexible tube being greater than its diameter, protecting means such as a labyrinth bafile located at the outer end or" the rigid tube, the fixed annular member having a nose of semicircular cross-section extending within and in the direction of the flexible tube, and a slidable annular member secured to the free end of said flexible tube and constituting a weight therefor, said slidable member having a tubular nose of semi-circular cross-section complementary to the nose of the fixed annular member, the two noses overlapping when the bottle is in the upright position.

2. A closure for a non-refillable bottle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flexible tube is formed with a constriction at a point intermediate its length. I

3. A closure for a non-refillable bottle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the periphery of the slidable annular member and the bore of the rigid tube are provided with interengaging means serving to prevent rotation of the slidable annular member while permitting sliding movement.

4. A closure for a non-refillable bottle as claimed in claim 1, wherein there is provided a ball housed in a portion of the rigid tube formed with a bore slightly greater than the diameter of the ball and with longitudinal flutings in said bore.- a

5. A closure for a non-refillable bottle as claimed in claim 1, wherein there is provided a ball housed in a portion of the rigid tube formed with a bore slightly greater than the diameter of the ball and with longitudinal fiutings in said bore and the bore of the slidable annular member at the end thereof remote from the nose is slightly less than the diameter of the ball, which seats in and closes the bore when the bottle is the upright position.

6. A closure for a non-refillable bottle comprising a' fixed annular member mounted at the in-- ner end of the neck of the bottle, a fiexible tube secured at one of its ends to said member and extending towards the outer end of the neck, the

length of the flexible tube being greater than its diameter, protecting means such as a labyrinth REFERENCES CITED bame located at said outer end and weight The following references are of record in the ing an aperture therein and forming a passage file of this patent:

for the egress of liquid at the free end of the flexible tube, said weight causing said free end to UNITED STATES PATENTS collapse upon the end of the fixed annular mem- Number Name Date her when the bottle is upright, a loose member 603,908 Lloyd May 10, 1898 located between the weight and the protecting 859,177 Holland et al. July 2, 1907 means and adapted to overlie and cover the aper- 862.393 Harriss Aug. 6, 1907 ture in said weight when seated against said 10 1,196,891 Smith Sept. 5, 1916 weight. 1.206.694 Green Nov. 28, 1916 FRANCIS HENRY L1: SUEUR. 2,150,244 Pancoast Mar. 14, 1939 

